Jiang Mingwei roared, her face full of anger. Her imposing and domineering attitude made the shopkeeper tremble with fear.
He was used to bullying the weak and fearing the strong, so when he encountered a tough opponent, he naturally cowered instantly.
He hunched over, frowned, and carefully examined Jiang Mingwei again and again.
Suddenly, his pupils contracted, and a look of horror and disbelief appeared on his face.
"You...you are the young lady?"
"If she's not a young lady, then who is?" Hua Cui's face was icy as she rebuked in a low voice, "A perfectly good clinic with no customers, and you're sleeping in broad daylight? How dare you!"
The shopkeeper's heart was pounding. Now that he had confirmed Jiang Mingwei's identity, he was so frightened that he trembled and begged for mercy with a mournful face. He had lost all his previous toughness.
"Oh dear, I'm innocent! I'm truly innocent!"
He stood up, hurriedly put on his boots and shoes, and explained anxiously, "Miss, I'm really innocent! I was blind and didn't know you were here, but the clinic's business has been bad all along, and that's not something I can control!"
She glanced at him without saying a word, and continued to open the box containing the medicinal herbs.
The shopkeeper was startled and tried to stop her, but Jiang Mingwei was incredibly fast. She opened the book, glanced at it, and then closed it again. Her fair face grew increasingly gloomy, like the calm before a storm...
"How many days has it been since you last opened and looked at the herbs inside!"
The shopkeeper lowered his head guiltily, his eyes darting around, cold sweat beading on his forehead, and dared not utter a word in response.
"this……"
Bang!
With a loud crash, Jiang Mingwei pulled out one of the drawers and slammed it heavily to the ground.
Both Hua Cui and the shopkeeper were startled and hurriedly took a step back.
Upon closer inspection of the scattered medicinal herbs on the ground, Hua Cui exclaimed, "Oh my god, Miss! These herbs are all moldy! They're unusable! If used on a person, they could die!"
"Yes, people come to the clinic to see a doctor and take medicine to get better. If they take these moldy herbs home and cook them, not only will they not cure their illness, but they will also make their bodies weaker."
"This Renyifang (仁医坊) is supposed to be a place for healing and saving lives, but it turns out that it was involved in murder without my knowledge!"
With a flick of her long sleeves, Jiang Mingwei was filled with rage, her eyes fixed on the shopkeeper as if she wanted to dig a hole through him!
If the shopkeeper is lazy, then so be it.
Unexpectedly, he dared to sell moldy medicinal herbs. What is the difference between this and murder for profit?
This is not just going to ruin Renyifang's reputation. If someone dies from eating moldy medicine, not only will the manager be imprisoned, but she too will probably be thrown into jail!
"Manager Song, you've really lived a long time. So you want to come with me to the prison for a while, and then be beheaded and displayed to the public, is that it!"
"Please calm down, Miss! Please calm down! I... I didn't intentionally sell moldy medicinal herbs, nor did I not want to replace them; it was just that there was really no need!"
Jiang Mingwei, having studied medicine herself, was extremely sensitive to the matter of healing and saving lives. She understood that doctors should have the pursuits and ethics of doctors, and therefore she was very annoyed.
He exuded a fierce aura, which frightened Manager Song so much that he didn't dare to breathe.
He hurriedly knelt down on the ground, his face filled with fear.
His words made Jiang Mingwei frown, and she asked in a cold voice, "What do you mean?"
Manager Song looked bitter and sighed.
"To be honest, this whole thing is because of your mother-in-law, Miss. She managed to anger Physician Zhang so much that he left and even declared that she would never cooperate with Renyifang again. As a result, Renyifang's business has been in trouble!"
Even now, Manager Song still occasionally recalls the bustling scene at Renyifang, but unfortunately, things have changed drastically in just a few years.
It's truly heartbreaking!
"Previously, because Physician Zhang was on duty, the prices of medicines at Renyifang were not cheap in the capital. As you can tell from the shop's decor, ordinary people don't come here for treatment. At most, they would see Physician Zhang to take their pulse, find out their condition, and then take the prescription to those small pharmacies to get the medicine."
"We're making money off the nobles of Bianjing. After Physician Zhang left, who will come here specifically to buy medicine? The common people can't afford it, and the nobles don't care about it, so naturally it's unsaleable. With the rainy season coming, the herbs will definitely get moldy. But don't worry, Miss, these herbs haven't been sold for a long time!"
Manager Song was now completely open and honest with everything he knew.
Jiang Mingwei's eyebrows were tightly furrowed, and her eyes remained cold.
This Zhou family member has really caused a lot of harm!
Using the excuse that the original owner was too young and didn't know how to manage the business, she gradually destroyed everything the Jiang family had prepared for the original owner.
If it were just one shop, it wouldn't be so bad, but it's happened one after another!
Jiang Mingwei was so angry that her chest ached. She wished she could go home immediately, grab that old hag by the collar, and slap her hard a few times.
"Where are the ledgers? Bring them to me so I can see them."
Jiang Mingwei reached out her hand to Manager Song, who nodded quickly and hurriedly took out the account book and handed it to her.
After glancing at it, Jiang Mingwei's vision went black. Just as Manager Song had said, Renyifang hadn't made any money for four or five months...
The last time the medicine was brought in was in winter, before the rainy season, so the herbs shouldn't have been moldy like they are now.
Manager Song was not lying.
“Miss, I know I shouldn’t be sleeping when the shop is open, but business is slow and I really have nothing to do! Luckily, the shop deed is in your hands, otherwise Renyifang would have gone out of business long ago.”
"Look, I'm the only manager in this huge shop, and I haven't even hired any assistants, yet we're still losing money every day!"
Seeing that Jiang Mingwei remained silent after hearing his explanation.
Manager Song finally found someone to confide in, and poured out all the grievances in his heart.
Renyifang is a shop that he built from scratch, so he has the deepest affection for it than anyone else; otherwise, he wouldn't have persisted for so long without giving up.
But he also knew that things couldn't continue like this.
"Now that you've come today, Miss, and have recognized the root of Renyifang's problems, I implore you to think of a way to save Renyifang!"
"This is the dowry that your master and mistress left you. If it's destroyed like this, they won't be able to rest in peace in the afterlife..."
Jiang Mingwei's expression was cool as she pondered deeply.
She really didn't want to lose Renyifang. Right now, she had to keep it running normally and then rebuild its reputation step by step!
"Since the nobles aren't coming, let's temporarily target the common people. Go and get a batch of medicinal herbs. They don't need to be too expensive or of high quality, just enough to cure diseases and save lives."
She spoke in a low voice, walked to a spot near the door, and gestured with her hand.
"Put up a sign at the entrance explaining the future prices of medicinal herbs at Renyifang, which will be sold exclusively to the public. This will help the shop stay afloat for now, and I'll figure out the rest!"
Upon hearing this, Manager Song looked troubled and gave a bitter smile.
"But Miss..."
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